“There are so many critical unanswered questions about C.T.E.,” Robert Stern, the lead principal investigator and a professor of neurology, neurosurgery and anatomy and neurobiology at Boston University School of Medicine, said in a statement. “We are optimistic that this project will lead to many of these answers, by developing accurate methods of detecting and diagnosing C.T.E. during life, and by examining genetic and other risk factors for this disease.”